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The episode starts out with the ending of the previous episode, with Mike Slattery stating "I along with five members of my crew are prisoners of war." American media have apparently received this broadcast (presumably because it was a global broadcast from one of Takehaya's men) and the President has just learned of this.

Takehaya delivers an ultimatum stating the 2 U.S. Navy destroyers (Hayward and Shackleton) docked in Okinawa must leave Asian waters or he will slowly execute every hostage.

Back at the campsite, Burk and the other 4 Nathan James personnel ask the the sailor who saw the comm tower and Burk asks how tall it was. The sailor responds by saying it was about 100 feet, making it good for a brief broadcast, but that isn't what Burk has in mind.

Captain Chandler is still searching for the sailors but the search area proves too large. The Nathan James says they also will need fuel to search such a large area. The nearest dock being [ Pho Kong Island depot ], they decide to sail for there, but once there, they send a UAV just in case there are any surprises. Surely enough, there are 4 Chinese destroyers (Henan was one of them) docked in the harbor, effectively denying the Nathan James any chance at refueling.

Eventually Chandler comes up with a plan to break into the palace housing the Chinese President Peng and says maybe they'll find a way to get the fuel that the Nathan James need.

Chandler breaks into the palace silently and surprises Peng while he is swimming in his private pool. Peng leads Chandler to his chamber and Chandler starts questioning him about everything.

Peng states that he just wanted to kill Chandler. He does not specify the reason why, stating there could be a variety of reasons why he wanted to do so. At one point Peng's security detail leader, Lau Hu, checks up with Peng and asks if everything is all right. Peng says everything is fine. Peng states to Chandler that Lau Hu will be back. Eventually Chandler states that Peng might've been in cahoots with Takehaya, to which Peng reacts with surprise.

Chandler himself is surprised that Peng is not working with Takehaya. Peng states that at the dinner, he stated that China's main threat was pirates. He then goes on to say Takehaya is "the worst of the worst", implying Takehaya was presumably the most famous of all the pirates in the South China Sea. Chandler is still suspicious of Peng. One of Chandler's accompanying members finds a map showing the Paracel Islands and also a lot of islands that are crossed out. Chandler deduces that the Chinese Navy have also been searching for Takehaya and the islands that were crossed out were the islands that were searched. (this information was probably later instead of now) Peng states that both of them now have a common enemy in Takehaya.

After the Chinese destroyers leave, the Nathan James goes to the harbor and refuels. After it finishes, it leaves. Back at the palace, Lau Hu finds a key near where Peng was swimming earlier and sends 6 guards upstairs. The Nathan James takes notice of this and Chandler decides to leave from the south exit.

While leaving, Peng's security detail surprises Chandler's team, and they almost fight. Peng intervenes on Chandler's behalf, and orders Lau Hu to let them go. While Chandler is leaving, Peng tells Chandler to kill Takehaya.

Back at the Nathan James, Chandler cross references Peng's map with the Nathan James's virtual map, which narrows the search field to 5 islands. Takehaya finds Slattery and tells him he discovered his trick with the naval coordinates. He then proceeds to tell him that "You have led your friends to certain death"

The Nathan James catches sight of the first island, but abruptly halt as naval sensor mines appear. As the screen pans out, it is revealed that the Nathan James has sailed right into a minefield.